1. What is tubular breast cancer?
Tubular breast cancer is a rare type of breast cancer.
Invasive means cancer cells have the potential to spread to other parts of the body. However, tubular breast cancer is less likely to spread than other types of invasive breast cancer.
Tubular breast cancer most often affects women over 50, although you can get it at any age. It’s very rare in men.
It’s often found alongside other types of breast cancer.
Outlook (prognosis)
Tubular breast cancer usually has a very good outlook (prognosis) following treatment. This is because the cells are nearly always low grade and slower growing.
The outlook is particularly good if the cancer is “pure” tubular. This means it’s not mixed with other types of breast cancer.
2. Symptoms of tubular breast cancer
As with most types of breast cancer, the symptoms of tubular breast cancer can include:
- A lump or swelling in the breast
- A change in the size of the breast
- Changes to the nipple
- Puckering or dimpling of the skin
Breast screening can pick up cancer before there are any symptoms. You may have been diagnosed with tubular breast cancer after attending breast screening without having any of the symptoms described above.
Find out more about the signs and symptoms of breast cancer and how to check your breasts.
3. Diagnosis
Tubular breast cancer is diagnosed using a range of tests. These may include:
- A
- An
- A of the breast and sometimes lymph nodes
- A of the breast and sometimes lymph nodes
4. Treatment
The treatments you’re offered will depend on the features of the tubular breast cancer (such as size, grade, hormone receptor status and HER2 status).
Treatment aims to remove the cancer and reduce the risk of it coming back or spreading to other parts of the body.
Surgery
If you have tubular breast cancer, surgery is likely to be the first treatment you’re offered.
There are 2 main types of breast surgery:
The type of surgery you’re recommended will depend on:
- The area of the breast affected
- The size of the cancer relative to the size of your breast
- Whether more than 1 area in the breast is affected
Your breast surgeon will discuss your surgery with you.
If you have breast-conserving surgery, it’s important the cancer is removed with a border (margin) of healthy breast tissue around it. This is to reduce the risk of any cancer cells being left behind. If there are cancer cells at the margin, you may need further surgery to remove more tissue, which may be a mastectomy.
Breast reconstruction
Most women who have a mastectomy will have the option to have breast reconstruction. This can be done at the same time as your mastectomy (immediate reconstruction) or months or years later (delayed reconstruction).
Many women who have a mastectomy without breast reconstruction choose to wear a prosthesis – an artificial breast form that fits inside the bra.
Find out more about breast prostheses, bras and clothes after surgery.
Some women choose not to have reconstruction and not to wear a prosthesis after their mastectomy.
Surgery to the lymph nodes under the arm
Tubular breast cancer is less likely to spread to the lymph nodes under the arm than most other types of breast cancer. However, your treatment team will want to check if your lymph nodes have been affected.
This, along with other information about your breast cancer, will help them decide whether you’ll benefit from any other treatment after surgery.
You can find out more about surgery to the lymph nodes on our surgery page.
Other treatments
After surgery, you will usually need other treatments. These can include:
These treatments aim to reduce the risk of breast cancer returning in the same breast or spreading somewhere else in the body. Which treatments you’re recommended will depend on your individual situation.
Treatments given after surgery are called adjuvant treatments.
Some of these treatments may be given before surgery. This is known as neo-adjuvant or primary treatment.
Radiotherapy
If you have breast-conserving surgery, you’ll usually be offered radiotherapy to the breast. This is to reduce the risk of cancer coming back in the same breast. You may also have radiotherapy to the lymph nodes under the arm or above the collarbone.
Radiotherapy is sometimes given to the chest wall after a mastectomy. However, this is unlikely to be necessary if you have tubular breast cancer.
Hormone (endocrine) therapy
Some breast cancers use oestrogen in the body to help them grow. These are known as oestrogen receptor positive or ER-positive breast cancers.
Hormone therapies block or stop the effect of oestrogen on breast cancer cells. Different hormone therapy drugs do this in different ways.
Hormone therapy will only be prescribed if your breast cancer is ER-positive. Tubular breast cancers are usually ER-positive.
Chemotherapy
If you have tubular breast cancer, it’s unlikely you’ll have chemotherapy. This is because tubular breast cancer is almost always low grade and much less likely than some types of breast cancer to spread to other parts of the body. But it may be recommended for some people.
Your treatment team will discuss which treatment option is most appropriate for you. When the benefit of chemotherapy is less certain, your treatment team may suggest a test called a genomic assay.
Targeted therapy
Targeted therapy is the name given to a group of drugs that block the growth and spread of cancer. They target and interfere with processes in the cells that help cancer grow.
The type of targeted therapy you are given will depend on the features of your breast cancer.
Bisphosphonates
This group of drugs can slow down or prevent loss of bone tissue and reduce the risk of breast cancer spreading in women who have been through the menopause. They can be used if the menopause happened naturally or because of breast cancer treatment.
Bisphosphonates can be given as a tablet or into a vein (intravenously).
Your treatment team can tell you if bisphosphonates would be suitable for you.
5. Follow-up
You'll continue to be monitored after your hospital-based treatments (such as surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy) finish. This is known as follow-up.
Whether you had breast-conserving surgery or a mastectomy (with or without reconstruction), it's important to be aware of any changes to the breast, chest or surrounding area.
The area around your scar may feel lumpy, numb or sensitive. This means you'll need to get to know how it looks and feels so you know what’s normal for you. This will help you feel more confident about noticing changes and reporting them early to your breast care nurse, treatment team or GP.
Having breast cancer in 1 breast means the risk of developing cancer in the other breast (a new primary breast cancer) is slightly higher than in someone who's never had breast cancer. It’s important to be aware of any new changes in the other breast and to report these as soon as possible.
6. Further support
If you’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer, you might be feeling lonely or isolated. It’s completely natural to experience these feelings.
You might find it helps to talk to someone who has been through a similar experience. Find out about our Someone Like Me service below.
You can also visit our confidential online forum and talk to other people affected by tubular breast cancer.
You can also speak to our nurses on our free helpline, below.
